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Why the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute and SeaWorld chose to ship four young, vulnerable whales in the middle of the night is anyone’s guess – but mine is that they wanted to avoid potential protest. If that is so, it just means that the captive industry acknowledges the unpopularity of their treatment of whales and dolphins. The amusement parks are very well aware that public sentiment is shifting away from keeping whales and dolphins in captivity, and although as usual SeaWorld is claiming that they plan to release these whales their track record on following through is poor.

Young whales are now in SeaWorld.

Update: After being stabilized at here at Harbor Branch, the four juvenile short-finned pilot whales have been transported to SeaWorld Orlando for the next phase of their rehabilitation. Our veterinarian and animal care experts, in partnership with Marine Mammal Research and Conservation Program, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service, and SeaWorld Orlando began preparations late Tuesday for transport of the whales. At approximately 3 a.m. on Wednesday, September 5, the whales were carefully moved into a transport unit and safely arrived at SeaWorld Orlando at approximately 6:30 a.m. The whales will remain at SeaWorld Orlando for long-term rehabilitation, and their prognosis remains guarded.

People are seriously questioning the decision making that went into the whole rescue operation (22 pilot whales beached themselves on Saturday near Avalon Beach in Florida, more on this can be found here), when most of the whales were euthanized while four juveniles and a still nursing calf were taken to the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute. In other words, the mothers and families of these whales were euthanized while the young were kept. No satisfactory explanation has been given as to why more of an effort was not made to help the stranded adults. The officials offered only the usual song and dance about how the whales somehow chose to “drink the KoolAid” and follow their sick leader in mass suicide – there is no scientific proof that these intelligent animals would find this an effective survival strategy, clearly it is anything but.

SeaWorld has another opportunity here to reinvent itself into an organization that really is about education, rescue and rehabilitation. We’ll see.

Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate.